The Key
by JodithGrace
Summary: Complete! This is an Angel/Buffy Crossover but not B/A. Angel needs Dawn's help to get Connor back.
1. Default Chapter

The Key

By Jody E.

These Characters do not belong to me, but to Mutant Enemy and Joss Whedon. I merely toy with them for my own amusement.

This fic contains spoilers for BTVS and AtS through the end of the season.

Cordelia swiftly walked the five blocks between her apartment and the Hyperian Hotel. After two weeks of R&R, she was eager to get back to her friends, catch up on the latest gossip, and get back to work. She wondered how Angel Investigations had fared without her. She hadn't had any emergency phone calls from the gang, and not even one vision had marred her vacation. Apparently, The Powers That Be had decided, along with Angel, that she had earned a little rest.

But now she was ready to get back into the fray. And eager to see Angel and the rest of her friends again, especially baby Connor. She had bought him the cutest inflatable wading pool. They could put it in the courtyard when he was a little older. She wondered if he had missed his Aunt Cordy. Or if anybody else had missed her. There had not been one single call on the cell phone she had brought along just in case. She had an eerie thought as she reached the large ornate doors, that her friends had all disappeared, and that the hotel would be empty and abandoned. This feeling increased when she pulled on the door handle and found it locked at 11 AM on a Tuesday morning. The fear was immediately replaced by annoyance. Whose job was it to open up in her absence? Cordelia dug her keys out of her pocket, unlocked the door, and strode into the lobby, ready to have it out with whoever was neglecting their business. She looked around the empty lobby in amazement. The room looked as though a mild earthquake had hit; though Cordelia hadn't heard anything about it on the news. New cracks marred the walls. The floor was stained and dirty and the weapons case was a mess of smashed glass and broken hinges. No one was at the reception desk or in the office. She walked over to the telephone. The blinking number 18 on the answering machine indicated that nobody had been manning the phones either. Connor's bassinet stood in the middle of the floor, empty except for a few stuffed animals. Where was everybody? She walked into Wesley's office. There was no usual array of papers and books. Everything had been closed up and neatly arranged, with not so much as a stray scrap of paper or half empty coffee cup left behind. Wesley was usually organized, but not all that neat. His desk looked strange and unnatural this way. Maybe he had taken a few days off. Maybe they were all taking a long weekend, though such a thing had never happened before in Cordelia's recollection.

However, Angel, Connor, Fred and Lorne lived here in the hotel. Fred and Lorne might be out, maybe with the baby, but it was daytime, so Angel was surely home, though probably asleep. Should she disturb him? Hell, how often did she come back from vacation?

"Angel!" she called out, her voice echoing in the empty lobby. "ANGEL!"

The spooky feeling she had felt earlier came back. In the last six years, Cordelia had learned to expect just about anything, so the notion that her friends had somehow magically disappeared was not farfetched in the slightest. It was with great relief that she heard footsteps echoing in the mezzanine hallway, though it was not Angel who came clattering down the stairs, but Lorne. He appeared haggard and unkempt, the way he had looked when his beloved club had first been destroyed. 

"Cordy! Babycakes! Am I glad to see you!" he cried as he came down the stairs and swept Cordy up into a big hug. "Everything has gone to Hell without you, and I mean that literally!"

"Where is everybody?" Cordy asked, "And what happened to your face? Was it the earthquake?" Lorne's green face was marred with a large bandage on his forehead and his eyes were swollen and redder than usual, as though he had been crying.

"I only wish! Oh Honey, it is the worst thing you could imagine."

"Angel's gone evil again? Oh my God!" 

"Not that, but close."

"Connor! Something's happened to Connor?"

"He's gone, Sweetie pie." At this, Lorne burst into tears.

"Gone? How gone? Did someone take him? Was it Holtz, the vampire cults, Wolfram and Hart?" The list of Connor's potential enemies was too long to remember. "Is he…he's not..."

"D-dead?" whispered the host wiping his eyes with a soggy handkerchief from his breast pocket. "We don't know."

"My God! Angel! He must be frantic. Is he out looking for him? Is that where everybody is?"

"Nobody's looking for him. He is beyond finding." 

"Meaning…"

"Well, " Lorne sniffled, "I wasn't there when it happened, but apparently Holtz grabbed him and leapt into a dimensional portal. Not Pylea, unfortunately. My poor baby.." wailed Lorne, beginning to sob anew. 

A dimensional portal! No wonder Angel Investigations had ground to a halt. But where was everybody? Why weren't Wesley and Angel investigating? When she had disappeared, the Angel crew had followed soon after. Surely something could be done.

"When did this happen? How come nobody called me? And where the hell is everybody?" it was easier to lash out than think about Connor alone and helpless God knows where with that bastard Holtz.

"It only happened last night. Angel hasn't been...in any shape to call anybody. Wesley…uh, Wesley is in the hospital...in intensive care. Gunn and Fred are there with him right now."

"Oh Poor Wes! Was he injured in the battle over Connor? Is everybody else all right?"

Lorne looked away. "Gunn and Fred are fine, but Angel is in terrible shape, as you can imagine. He's been holed up in his room since it happened."

"I'd better go up and see him." Cordy made for the staircase.

"Wait!" Lorne called stopping her in her tracks. "Perhaps you can bring him some blood. And get him to drink it. He won't even look at the stuff...says he never wants to drink it again. And for poor Johnny One-note that really isn't an option."

Cordy waited while Lorne rushed into the kitchen and came out with a container of blood. He handed it to her, "Assure him that it's from a different butcher. Maybe he'll believe _you_."

Cordelia was puzzled but took the container and went upstairs towards Angel's room. As she hit the top step Lorne called out, "Oh…and he's not in his old room. He's in suite 220."

Up here, the earthquake damage was worse. No wonder Angel had moved out. It looked as though his room had caught fire. Cordy peeked in…it was totally destroyed. A miracle it hadn't spread to the entire hotel. Outside the new suite, Cordy hesitated. What could she possibly say to Angel to console him on the loss of his beloved son? Steeling herself, she knocked.

After a long moment she heard a muffled, "Go away."

"Angel, it's me, Cordy. I'm back."

Silence.

"Please let me in."

She heard shuffling footsteps coming towards the door, and fumbling of the old fashioned lock, and the door opened in her face. Angel stood there looking as though he had aged a hundred years in the two weeks since she had seen him. His hair stuck out in all directions, his face was unshaven and his eyes were haunted, but dry. It was also apparent by the way he swayed in the doorway, and reeked of whiskey, that he was very drunk. He stood and stared at Cordelia as though she were a stranger. 

"Angel. It's me, Cordelia. Can I come in?"

He stood back and let her enter. Cordy walked in and looked around. The room, similar in color and decor to his old room, looked as though it had never been lived in. The bed was unmussed. Cordy surmised that he had spent the night in the brocade armchair, judging by the empty whiskey bottle, and half-full one lying at its base. On the arm rest, looking oddly perky and out of place, was a pale blue teddy bear, one of Cordelia's gifts to Connor and apparently Angel's only companion last night.

Angel continued to stare at her dumbly. Cordelia felt her heart breaking. She had never seen him like this...so broken. She put the container of blood down on the table, went over to Angel, gripped his arms, and looked into his eyes, willing him to focus. 

"Angel. Look at me. I'm back. Why didn't you call me? Maybe I could have helped."

Angel hesitated and then replied thickly, "I-I didn't wanna bother you, and…uh, on your…trip." He managed.

"Bother me? I would have come back in a minute. You know that!"

Angel looked at her, "Did…" he seemed to struggle with the concept. "Did you have a vision?"

"No. Nothing. I had no clue that anything bad was happening here. I don't understand."

"Thas..."Angel seemed to recover a bit of sobriety, "That's what I was afraid of." He pulled away from Cordelia and walked over to his chair where he sank down wearily, knocking the bear unheeded onto the floor. He looked up, stricken. "I think that The Powers didn't warn you because this was…supposed to happen." He looked down at his feet. "I had thought that Connor was a gift. A crazy, miraculous gift, one that I knew I didn't deserve. But I guess…he was just part of my punishment." He buried his face in his hands.

Cordelia was horrified. She went over to Angel and knelt down in front of him and pulled his hands down so that she could look in his eyes. "Angel! No! No way was that precious baby any kind of a punishment! He _was_ a gift! And you just can't give up on him like this! I don't _know_ why the Powers didn't warn me. Maybe I couldn't have stopped it. Who knows? But we've dealt with dimensional portals before. Between Wesley and…" 

Angel's hands came up and gripped Cordelia's shoulders painfully cutting off her next words. "Wesley!" He rasped.

"What…what about Wesley? How badly is he hurt? Oh God, Lorne did say intensive care…it just didn't register. Tell me."

"Wesley, "Angel spat out the words in a voice full of hate, "was the one who kidnapped Connor and turned him over to Holtz and his gang. They _rewarded _him by slitting his throat!" 

Cordelia was stunned. This just didn't make sense. Wesley, a traitor? No. Uh huh. Sorry. This does not compute.

"Angel. No. That's not true. It couldn't be. Wesley is the most loyal person I know. He would _never _betray you or do anything to harm Connor. There must be some kind of misunderstanding. Has anyone talked to him?"

Angel shook his head. "It's true, Cordy. Ask Lorne. He'll tell you. He tried to stop Wesley and got his face bashed in!"

"But why? What possible reason…" 

"I sent Gunn over to the hospital to question him. I didn't trust myself."

Cordelia got up and went over to the table. "Then I guess we'll find out soon enough. But meanwhile, Angel, you have got to pull yourself together." She picked up the container of blood; "Lorne told me that this came from a different butcher. You have got to keep up your strength."

Angel picked up the half full bottle of whiskey. "I've given up blood. Decided to go with whiskey from now on. Much less…complicated." He twisted off the cap and took a drink. "Only trouble is vampires just don't stay drunk long enough. Damned recuperative powers. It's just not fair. But then again, unlife sucks no matter which way you look at it. From now on I prefer to look at it drunk."

"Oh yeah?" Cordy marched over to Angel, snatched the bottle out of his hand, and quickly emptied it into the sink in the little kitchenette, before he even had time to react. "I don't think so." She brought the container of blood over to Angel and gave it to him, "Drink!" she commanded.

Angel accepted the container meekly and studied it for a moment. Then calmly, he threw the container with all his strength. It hit the opposite wall with a resounding splat, dying it a brilliant scarlet. He looked up at Cordelia and stood up.

"Do you know what our friends at Wolfram and Hart did to me? They spiked my pig's blood with blood they stole from Connor's doctor. Connor's blood. To make me want to hurt him. My own son." 

At these words, Angel's eyes welled up finally and he began to cry, silently. Cordy went over to him and did what she had wanted to do since she had walked into the room; she put her arms around him "Oh Angel, I'm so sorry." She said and burst into tears also.

They stood there crying in each other's arms for some minutes. Finally, when it seemed like they had calmed down a bit, Cordy said, "Angel, come downstairs with me. Maybe Gunn and Fred have returned with some news. We can find him, Angel. We will!"

Angel looked up at her with the first glimmer of hope he had felt in many hours. "Do you really think so?"

"Of course!" Cordy replied with a bravado that she didn't feel, "We're champions, remember? That's what we do."

At that word, Angel seemed to recall something. "Oh…is Groo downstairs?"

"Groo? Uh no...I left him back at the apartment. I have him unpacking. He..uh...likes to keep busy. But I'm sure he will be glad to help." 

"Great," Angel muttered to himself, as he and Cordelia walked down the stairs. Cordelia shook her head, suddenly realizing something. From the moment she had left her apartment, until Angel had mentioned his name, Cordy had completely forgotten The Grooselug.


	2. Chapter 2

As Cordy and Angel walked slowly downstairs, Fred and Gunn came into the lobby, their faces grim. When they saw Cordelia, some of the grimness vanished. Fred grabbed Cordy in a big hug, while Gunn put his arm around her and gave her an affectionate squeeze. They were a bit more awkward with Angel, not knowing quite how to deal with his obvious grief. Lorne came in from the kitchen with a pot of coffee, and Fred went to help him with cups etc. and the gang settled down on the sofas in the lobby to talk.

"How is Wesley?" Cordelia was the first to ask the question that she knew was on Angel and Lorne's mind.

Gunn spoke up, "Pretty bad. Somebody cut his throat but good. He's lucky he's still breathin'. They musta got him to the ER pretty damn quick is all I can say."

"Do we know who did it?" This from Lorne. 

"Somebody from Holtz's posse I guess. English ain't in any position to say."

"He can't talk at all?" Cordelia asked.

"Doc says they can't risk damage to his vocal chords. And they got him so doped up he couldn't write worth a damn either."

"But at least he was out of Intensive Care this mornin' so we could see him. And he was conscious, "Fred continued, "The Doctor says he should recover. The cuts weren't very deep."

"Yeah, if they were tryin' to kill him, they didn't do a very good job. Which would make sense if he was workin' for them. I mean why not just kill him?"

Cordelia asked, "Do you all really think Wesley was working for Holtz? Why would he betray Angel? Or hurt Connor?"

Lorne spoke up with a loud sigh, "All I know is that he was singing to Connor as he bundled him up to take him outside, and I read that he was planning to steal the little guy and take him far away. I didn't get much more before he realized what I was doing and clobbered me."

"But what makes you think he was working for Holtz?"

"I also read that he had met with Holtz. Twice. But like I said he didn't sing long enough for me to get to his motives or where he planned to go with the munchkin or anything else."

Cordy turned to Gunn and Fred, "And Wesley wasn't able to communicate anything to you guys?"

"Just the one word he managed to get out to Fred before the Doc cut him off."

"What was that?" Cordy looked at Fred.

"'Sorry.' That's all he said. Just, 'sorry.'" 

"_Sorry?_" It was Angel, the first he had spoken since they had come downstairs, though he had drunk a cup of black coffee. "That's all he can say? Sorry?" Angel jumped up and strode over to his broken weapons case. Gunn ran to intercept him. 

"Boss! Angel!" Gunn grabbed Angel as he grabbed a short sword from the case "You don't wanna be doing something stupid that you're gonna regret! First of all it's high noon. And second of all Wesley's in a public hospital surrounded by nurses and doctors, And third and most important, _we don't know what happened!"_

By this time the rest of his friends surrounded Angel. Cordelia looked him in the eye and took the sword from his hand and put it back into the case, avoiding the jagged broken glass. "This isn't getting Connor back," She said gently, "What we need is a plan."

Angel reluctantly went back to his seat, his eyes dark and flashing. The others gradually settled back down to brainstorm on the best method for finding Connor, if there was a method at all.

"You said that the portal was over by the sixth street bridge, is that right?" asked Fred in her soft voice. She and Gunn shared a loveseat, Lorne had a comfy armchair and Cordy and Angel sat on either end of a long sofa. Cordy looked at the space between them and suddenly remembered Groo again. She really should call him and invite him over for this discussion. Maybe later, she decided. If we need muscle. 

"On Spring Street. That's right," said Angel, calm again. "But the thing is, the portal was created by this time travelling demon Sahjhan. So it may not exist there permanently, unlike the Pylean hotspots." 

"Now Sahjhan is that dude who brought Holtz back right? The one who has a grudge against you, but you don't know why."

"Holtz had a legitimate beef. But this Sahjhan? I can't remember even seeing him before, no less doing something unforgivable to him. You haven't met him, but believe me…he has the kind of face you'd remember."

"Maybe he didn't always look like that. Maybe that's why you don't remember him." suggested Cordelia. 

Fred added, "You say, he's traveled all through time. Maybe he's mad at you for somethin' you are going to do to him in the future, and is lookin' to prevent it."

"Or something Connor was going to do." spoke up Lorne.

"Well he wanted to kill Connor, but his grudge seemed to be against me."

"Do you remember the words he said to open the portal?" asked Fred.

"I don't suppose it was something simple like 'Open sesame.'" ventured Lorne with a sigh, "it never is."

Angel shook his head. "He said it so fast, I didn't know what he was going to do. Just a string of demonic sounding words. And the portal opened up. Took me by surprise. Took us all by surprise."

Gunn spoke, "Now you said that our best buds, Wolfram and Hart, were there too with all those black ops military types. They're big with the surveillance, right? Maybe they have the whole thing on tape or something."

Angel replied, "Gunn, you might have something there. If we could get the words Sahjhan said we might have a chance. I guess that means another confrontation with Lilah tonight. At least I know what bar she hangs out in."

"But Angel, "said Cordy, "Do we really want to involve AlleyCat McBeal? She's not exactly on our side."

"But she does want Connor back. That I know."

"But she don't want him back so she can take him to Chuck E. Cheese." Said Gunn. "W&H just want a new toy."

"I know, " said Angel. "I'll have to give it some thought."

"But you did hear the words that Sahjhan spoke, is that right?" asked the host thoughtfully.

"Yes. Why?" Asked Angel.

"Because if they are in your subconscious, I might be able to read them."

"If I sang, you mean?" Fred, Gunn and Cordy looked at each other and groaned silently.

The host sighed, "Yes. I'm afraid so."

"Well, sure," said Angel. "What should I sing…Mandy again?"

"No." Lorne replied hastily, "Not without music. What we need is something long and repetitive."

"Like Stairway to Heaven? " Suggested Angel.

"No!" rang out in chorus from Fred, Cordy and Gunn.  


"No." Echoed the host, "something simpler. Do you know The 12 Days of Christmas?"

Angel shook his head. "I always get the words mixed up, with the drummers and the pipers and the geese and all."

Fred raised her hand, and then self-consciously put it down, "Uh...I have an idea. When I was a young girl in Texas, when we used to go on school field trips we always used to sing this silly song on the bus, 'One hundred bottles of beer on the wall, One hundred bottles of beer, You take one down and pass it around…'"

"Ninety Nine bottles of beer on the wall, "finished Gunn. "Hey I went on field trips too!"

"Me too, "added Cordelia. "I think everybody knows that song."

"Well, I don't." said Angel. "When I was a young lad in Ireland, we didn't have field trips _or_ buses."

"Hmmp!" Said the host. "In Pylea, not only didn't we have field trips or buses...we didn't even have music! Not that I would call that…_ditty_, music_,_ exactly. Nevertheless, it is just the sort of repetitive nonsense that will reveal the demon's words, no matter how deeply they are buried. So it will have to do." 

"Well, okay then, I guess I can sing it. Sounds easy enough." Said Angel.

Lorne sighed again, and went over to the desk for a pad and pencil. "Oh, the sacrifices I make…"

Fred leaned over to Cordelia and said, "While they're doing that, How about you and I going to pick up some lunch? I'm starvin'!"

"Can I come too? " Asked Gunn pleadingly, looking at Fred.

"Charles, we need you here to make sure Angel gets the song right." She gave him a look indicating that she wanted to talk to Cordelia alone. 

"Sure, "Gunn muttered. " Guess I can sacrifice too." The girls went out.

Angel turned to Gunn, "So, how does that song go again?"

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Cordelia and Fred sat in the corner luncheonette waiting for their sandwiches to be ready. Fred turned to Cordy; "I am so glad that you came back. Finally we are getting' someplace. Poor little Connor, and poor Angel. Charles and I, and Lorne of course, have been at our wits end."

"Well, we should stop at my place and pick up Groo. I'm sure he will want to help, especially if we can open the portal."

Fred leaned in confidentially, "So how _was_ your big romantic vacation, if you don't mind my askin'?"

"It was okay…uh, good. I really have to thank Angel for giving it to me. Us."

"Just okay? You can tell me, Cordy."

Cordy sighed. "Well, you know in a fairy tale when the handsome Prince rescues the Princess and they ride off into the sunset?"

Fred smiled and sighed, "Oh yes."

"Well, do you ever wonder what they talk about afterwards?"

"Oh. Well…no. The story usually ends with the happily ever after."

"Well, in real life the story kind of goes on and on and on." Cordelia looked uncomfortable, " First of all let me say, that Groo is really sweet, and he's got that whole muscle thing happening, and he is totally devoted to me, which is really great…"

"But?"

"Well, for one thing he only has three topics of conversation. Number one…Pylean politics."

Fred grimaced.

"Exactly. It's all Coups d'etat and Special Interest groups and Machiavelli, only not really Machiavelli but some Pylean guy who is just as boring."

Fred nodded sympathetically, "And what's topic number two?"

"His…_warriorness_, if there is such a word. If I have to hear one more story about his battle to the death with some yucky creature in a slime pit, I am going to scream."

"The pitfalls of dating a hero, I guess." ventured Fred.

"Well, Angel is a warrior. So is Gunn and even Wesley. They just don't talk about it all the time. Which brings us to topic number three. This is kind of embarrassing."

"What is it?"

"How wonderful I am."

Fred shook her head; "This is a problem?" 

"Well, it was great for about a day or so. But, and I can't believe I'm saying this, constant adulation gets really old in an amazingly short time."

"Well, couldn't you introduce some new topics?"

"Like what? He's never seen a movie or television. And he's never heard music before. Imagine a guy who's never heard of the Beatles. Or Mickey Mouse. Or Beverly Hills 90210. He's never read any of our books, or any books period. He doesn't know the first thing about our world."

"My goodness, I know how hard it was to catch up after only _five years_ in Pylea! But I don't know, it seems like it might be kinda fun. Teachin' him."

"Well, it was, kind of, at first. But he is so far behind …it just makes me tired. It's so much easier to just park him in front of the tube, you know? God only knows what he picked up. Sometimes innocence can be a real drag, if you get my drift."

"Innocence?"

Cordy leaned in closer, "He didn't even know how to comshuck!"

"_What?"_

"Well, he knew what to do in _theory,_ but had never exactly put it into practice, if you know what I mean."

"You mean he was a…."

Cordy nodded emphatically, "Totally. Worse than Xander, even!"

"Xander?"

"High School. Don't ask. After Xander I vowed….no more guys of the nerd persuasion!"

"So, are you saying that Groo is a nerd?"

"A Warrior nerd? Yeah, I guess that about sums it up."

"So what are you gonna do?"

"I have no idea," said Cordelia with a sigh. "But how about you? I guess this whole thing with Wesley must have hit you pretty hard."

"Wesley? Well, like Charles I do believe that there is more to that story than meets the eye." She shook her head sadly, "Poor Wes. And on top of the news about Charles and me, too."

"What news about you and Charles?" 

"You don't know? But you were the one who told me to go for it, before we went to the ballet, remember? Well, I took your advice, and I'm ever so grateful. I guess I never got to tell you about it before you went away."

Cordelia stared at Fred open mouthed. "You and Gunn? Oh My God…I thought you were interested in _Wesley._ And I gave him hope that you felt the same way. Oh dear. How did he take the news?"

Fred turned pale; "He never said _anything!_ Just a bunch of warnin's about mixin' work and romance. Oh God, now I feel just terrible! He really hasn't been himself since the ballet, but I've been so caught up with my own happiness, I just never really gave it much thought!"

Cordelia stood up; "The guy behind the counter is waving at us. I guess our sandwiches are ready. Why don't you bring them back to the hotel, and I'll go get Groo and meet you there." She patted Fred's hand. "It's not your fault that it's Gunn you prefer. And it was _my_ misunderstanding that made things worse."

Fred looked up determinedly, "We _will_ clear Wesley's name. It's the very least we can do." Cordy nodded emphatically and left the restaurant.

"Twenty-nine bottles of beer on the wall," Angel warbled flatly as Lorne frowned in concentration. The song was certainly simple enough. Almost not humanly possible to screw up. But then again, no one had ever accused Angel of being human. "Twenty-nine bottles of beeeer…"

"Wait! I have it! Thank the Powers…you can stop!" Lorne wrote the words down quickly before he forgot them. "Whew, they were buried pretty deep, but we got them. Oh, and Angel, what you are contemplating doing to the Grooselug? I wouldn't recommend it. Cordy wouldn't be pleased, and we may need him _with_ all his parts."

Angel sighed, "Hey…I can't help what is deep in my subconscious."

"It wasn't that deep. I got that at ninety-eight bottles. Your feelings for Cordelia were at ninety-nine."

"Oh yeah? What else was in there?"

"Angelcakes, all I can say is that you have one sad and sorry psyche. Why don't you tell her how you feel?"

"Right. After she's just had two weeks of what I can't ever give her?"

"Well, I didn't see our friend Grooselug attached to her hip when she came back. Maybe the man of her dreams isn't all that, after all."

"You really think so?" The gloom lifted slightly.

"I wouldn't be surprised."

During this exchange, Gunn had been busy taking down the many phone messages. But he jumped up when Fred came in with the large bag of sandwiches. "Here let me help you with those. " He offered, "Where'd Cordy go?"

"She'll be back in a minute. We've got roast beef heroes. Do we have to wait for her to eat?"

"How about you, Angel?" Lorne asked.

"It's okay Lorne. I think maybe I can eat. I'm feeling more hopeful about things somehow. No don't get up, I'll go help myself." Angel disappeared into the kitchen.

"Did you get anything?" asked Fred as she and Gunn spread out the sandwiches and sodas.

"I have the phrase that Sahjhan used to open the portal. We can give it a try as soon as the sun sets."

Angel came into the room with a mug of blood. He took a tentative sip. It tasted normal…regular old pig's blood. He realized that he was starving.

Just then Cordelia came in with the Grooselug. He had his arm around her, and he smiled and greeted everyone. Cordelia was also smiling as she gave him a sandwich. They sure _looked_ joined at the hip. Angel put the mug of blood down, forgotten, and forced himself to go over and greet the happy couple.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The group gathered at the Sixth Street Bridge as soon as the sun set. They had decided that if the portal could be opened, Angel, Gunn and the Grooselug would be the ones to go through and attempt to find Holtz and Connor. It had been about twenty-four hours since Connor had disappeared into the open maw of the portal, and there was no way of knowing how much time had passed in the other dimension, or indeed if any time had passed at all. Groo was wearing his Pylean skins, as he felt more comfortable fighting in them then in Angel's clothing. He, Angel and Gunn were heavily armed with swords and knives. Angel had warned them that it was more than possible that the weapons would not pass through the portal, but they might as well prepare for the best, while expecting the worst.

Angel could not be talked out of going, even though he had no way of knowing if he would be leaping into daylight or some other vampire hostile environment. In Pylea it had only been dumb luck that the sun hadn't been lethal, but who knew what lay beyond this portal. Gunn and Groo were also aware of the risks, as the environment might not only be hostile to vampires. They were heading into the total unknown.

Fred clung to Gunn, begging him to be careful. He promised her and kissed her goodbye, as though he might never see her again. The Grooselug was a bit more stoical, as he felt befitted a warrior. He kissed Cordelia lightly and strode towards the jump-off point. Angel took one look at Cordy and Groo and shot a glance at Lorne who rolled his eyes. At the last moment, Cordy ran up to Angel. 

"Hey! You be careful, okay?" she said and kissed him quickly on the lips, "You will get Connor back. I know you will!" she said and stepped back. Angel looked after her intently for a moment and then turned away.

Not wanting to use Angel's car this time, they decided to keep in constant contact so as not to get separated in transit. They gripped hands tightly and Angel spoke the words that Sahjhan had used; " Lekko Najine Forkahdio!"

They waited, looking up into the starry sky. 

"Lekko Najine Forkahdio!" Angel shouted again.

Nothing happened. Lorne stepped up to the three warriors and shouted the words in a loud voice, but there was no result, except to cause a few passersby to look at the strange ensemble with curiosity. However, since this was Los Angeles, the sight of a bizarre group of people shouting unintelligible words into the sky was hardly worth noticing.

After several attempts by each member of the group, it was obvious that either there was no portal there, or they lacked the wherewithal to open it. Defeated and discouraged, and with a sense of anti-climax, they climbed back into Angel's car and headed back to the hotel.

"Well, we gave it a good shot," said Lorne, patting Angel on the shoulder as they walked into the hotel. 

"We failed."

"I'm sure I got the right words. But there must be more to opening the portal than that."

Angel pounded his fist angrily on the back of a chair. "Sahjhan has _power!_ He leaps through time and dimensions like they were subway stops. That's why he can open the portal and we can't. For all we know, that incantation only meant something like, 'Ha ha you suckers!'"

"Ha Ha you suckers. Not quite, but close." Said an amused voice from the reception desk.

Everybody turned around to see Sahjhan himself sitting on the counter. At least he appeared to do so since his body was not corporeal in this dimension. He surveyed the crowd calmly.

"This is Sahjhan," said Angel to the gang by way of introduction.

"Yeah, we pretty much figured that one out," replied Gunn.

The Grooselug raised his sword threateningly. "Is this the being who stole your child?" 

"Down boy, "said Angel to Groo, "Your sword can't hurt him. He didn't steal Connor. He is _impotent_ in this dimension which is why he has to recruit others to do his dirty work. He is obviously just here to gloat."

"How _is _Connor? Is he even still alive? Do you know?" asked Cordelia imploringly, looking in vain for some sign of compassion in the scarred face.

"And would I tell you if I did?" countered Sahjhan, "What kind of revenge would that be?"

Cordelia went over to Angel and put her hand on his shoulder. "I think he is still alive." She said.

"And what makes you so sure?" Sahjhan bristled.

"Well, it would certainly make better revenge to tell us he was dead, then to tell us that you're not going to tell us."

"Oh. Good point." Sahjhan studied Cordelia for a moment and turned to Angel. "Now I see why that lawyer didn't interest you. She was a bitch, anyway. Too bad, though. I couldn't help but notice that this one is involved…elsewhere."

"Look, Sahjhan," Angel burst out, "Was there a point to this little visit? If you're not going to help us find Holtz and get Connor back then get out!"

"Oh, but this is the best part, watching you fume _impotently!"_

Angel turned on him suddenly, eyes blazing, "For God's sake, what did I do to you? I don't remember! But whatever I did, it must have been over a century ago. I know how evil I was then. But I have changed. I have a soul now. I've spent many, many years trying to make reparations. I know I can't undo the wrong I've done, but I will be happy to make any amends to you that I can. Just _tell _me!"

"So, you have a soul, hmmm?" Sahjhan didn't even flinch when Angel advanced upon him.

"He does, "spoke up Cordelia, "and he has been helping people and fighting evil for years now. He isn't the monster he was back then."

"So a soul makes all the difference then, does it?" asked Sahjhan.

"Yes, it does," answered Cordelia staunchly. 

"Well," said Sahjhan, " Then you might be interested to know that what Angel did to me…he did _with _a soul." And with an ironic salute Sahjhan was gone. 

There was a stunned silence.

Gunn was the first to break it. "Funny…he didn't _look _like a lawyer."

Angel glared at him. Fred quickly went over and put her arm around him, protectively. Gunn continued, undaunted, "Just sayin'….he could've been involved with Wolfram and Hart in some way."

"Or any of the demons we've killed over the past three years." added Cordelia.

"I don't remember him or anyone like him at Wolfram and Hart. And all those demons we killed were hurting people, more or less. We fought them for a reason. Why would he hold a grudge about something like that? We were just doing our job."

"Maybe it's something from back in Ireland when you were a young man, before you were changed," This was Lorne.

"Well, I may not have been a sterling human being, but aside from knocking up a couple of parlor maids, I don't know that I did anything unforgivable."

Cordelia raised her eyebrows at the parlor maids remark, but said nothing.

"I think that we're wastin' precious time, trying to solve this mystery," said Fred, "We should be figurin' how to get Connor back."

"That's my girl," said Gunn, "She's right. Whatever you did to him is done. All we can do now, is deal with it."

"Maybe we'd better hit the books...see if there is some kind of magic skeleton key that will open portals into different dimensions. I sure wish W…" Fred stopped speaking abruptly before mentioning Wesley's name, but everybody knew what she meant. 

"Skeleton key, " Angel muttered thoughtfully. Suddenly he looked at Cordelia. "Cordy, do you remember Buffy's sister Dawn?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Scrawny Dawny? I sure do. She had this giant crush on Xander, who was _my_ boyfriend by the way, and she used to follow us around all the time, trying to be part of that stupid Scooby gang of ours. Of theirs." She looked at Fred, "But she did have great hair, I'll give her that." She turned back to Angel," What about her?"

"Is that _all_ you remember about her?"

"Oh, but wait..." Cordy shook her head, looking confused, "None of that was real, right? All that stuff I remember. " She looked at the others, "All those memories were implanted by monks or something like that," she finished lamely.

"That's right, "explained Angel to his somewhat confused friends, "As Willow explained it to me, Dawn was only made into human form about a year and a half ago. Then memories about her were implanted into everybody who knew Buffy or her family. But in her original form she was some kind of…"

"Dimensional key," finished Lorne. "You told me about this once."

"A key?" asked Gunn.

"Between dimensions? " continued Fred, and "Then she should be able to open the portal, right?"

"Wait a minute," said Cordelia, "I hate to burst everybody's bubble here, but didn't Buffy _die _to prevent her sister being bled to death by some crazy bitch Hellgoddess who wanted to use her as a key? Hello. I don't think so." 

"Well, I certainly wasn't about to suggest _bleeding _Dawn. If she has power, perhaps she could open the portal just by saying the incantation. But it doesn't matter. I'm not going to ask her anyway."

Cordelia stared at Angel who was suddenly looking extremely uncomfortable, "Why not? Sunnydale is only a couple of hours away. I'm sure Buffy wouldn't mind having Dawn at least try this for you. As long as no bleeding is involved."

"Sure, "said Gunn. " She was your girlfriend, right? And you two are still on friendly terms, aren't you? You did hightail it down there to see her when she came back from the dead."

"I…I know ..But she's probably got a lot on her mind, is all. She doesn't need to come all the way down here to help me get, uh, my son back. We can solve this on our own. Let's hit the books!"

"Angel!" Cordelia was looking him in the eye. "She doesn't know, does she?"

"Look, Cordy, I don't want to talk about it."

Cordelia grabbed Angel's hand and turned to the gang, "Excuse us for a moment." 

The Grooselug, who had been too confused to comment during the entire discussion, stood up to protest, but Cordy signaled him to sit back down, which he did. She pulled Angel into Wesley's office and closed the door.

"She doesn't know about you and Darla and the baby, does she?"

"Well, um, no, actually. I didn't know about it, about the baby that is, when I went to see her, and I didn't see any reason to make a big announcement about it afterwards."

Cordelia shook her head sadly, "You're still afraid of her aren't you? The almighty wrath of Buffy. I've seen it. Hell, I've experienced it! Just try running against her for homecoming queen! You just didn't want to tell her that you risked your soul having sex with Darla and now have a son to show for it. Coward!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not. Listen, Cordy. I saw her after she came back. You didn't. She was…shell shocked is the best term I can think of. "

"But that was months ago. I'm sure she's fine now. She bounces back. She's a great…bouncer."

"Well, I didn't want to add to her problems, is all."

"Uh huh. And the fact that you left her because you couldn't offer her a normal life with a picket fence and children, and then you come here and suddenly poof…you're Mr. Family Man. That has nothing to do with it, I suppose."

"I don't want to hurt her."

"Angel. You've been gone for, what, three years now? We know that she's had at least one serious boyfriend since then. Maybe more. Do you think she's still pining away for you, waiting for you to change your mind and come back?"

"No, you're right."

"And what's more, do you think that she expects you to be living the life of a monk all these years?"

"Well, actually yes."

"Hmmm. Point taken. Listen, Angel. This is too important to let this stuff stand in the way. You do want Connor back don't you?"

Angel gripped Cordelia's shoulders, "Yes, more than anything. You're right. It is stupid to worry about how Buffy is going to react when we have a chance to save him."

"Listen, Angel. Would you like me to call her? Woman to woman? I can make it easier for you."

Angel's face lit up, "Would you Cordy?"

Cordelia smiled at Angel. "You are so funny. You will gladly walk into the fire for your son, or for any of us. But ask you to call an old girlfriend and you turn into mush. No problem, Angel."

"Thanks, Cordelia, you're a real friend." 

Together they walked back into the lobby.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was another quiet evening in Sunnydale. Buffy walked through the graveyard, stake swinging idly in her hand. Not much chance of using it tonight, it seemed. This was the third night in a row that she hadn't seen a vampire, demon or even a raccoon. Buffy didn't like it. She and Dawn had recently watched a program on the Discovery Channel about frogs being the harbingers of ecological disaster. When frogs disappeared from a pond, it meant that the water was becoming polluted, even if it didn't look it. Well, in a way it was the same with vampires. Whether they increased or decreased dramatically, as they were doing lately, it wasn't a good sign. Something big was coming…an apocalypse or something else that was very much of the bad. Buffy had an uneasy feeling in her bones. Since recovering from her little bout with demon induced insanity, Buffy had felt increasingly worried that she and her friends were in a kind of calm before the storm. And there wasn't a whole lot she could do to prevent it.

For example, the day after linking the stinging demon to the nerd Troika, Buffy, Willow and Xander had gone back to the rental house where the demon had attacked. They had broken in, only to find the place deserted. If the Troika had been hiding out there, they had not left so much as a pocket protector behind. This was a bit of a puzzle. If they had indeed sicced the poison demon on her, wouldn't they assume that she was dead or catatonic by now? Why leave their hideout? It was as if they knew that Buffy had recovered and could trace the demon back to them. Certainly, they had managed to avoid the Scooby gang successfully for weeks. It's almost as if they can read our minds, Buffy thought. This was so not good. They were up to something; that much was a given. But what? And when?

And then there was the Anya situation. She had seemingly disappeared. The Magic Box was closed, and she had packed up a few things and left town. All normal enough behavior for a jilted bride. However, Anya wasn't just any jilted bride. She was an ex-Vengeance demon. Or was that Justice demon these days? Either way, they were infamous for not taking rejection well, and Buffy and Xander didn't know if she was off somewhere having a good cry or plotting revenge of the most horrific sort.

And then there was Spike. She hadn't seen hide nor duster of him since he had stood in the doorway of her room, prevented from entering by that big ray of sunlight. In her poisoned haze, she had told him that he wasn't a part of her life, and he had made some ominous threat about revealing their affair to the Scoobies if she didn't, and then left. Lucky for him, Buffy thought grimly, since she had been in a rather murderous mood, and she might well have dusted him before she came to her senses. As it was, she had barely avoided killing Willow, Xander and Dawn. Once again Buffy thought, thank heavens for Tara. What would they ever do without her refreshing sanity and calm? 

Still, walking through the graveyard, Buffy kept expecting to see Spike pop out from behind each mausoleum, and the fact that he was nowhere to be found increased her uneasiness. She knew he hadn't left town. Each night as she patrolled through "his' graveyard she couldn't help stopping by his crypt, half expecting to find it deserted. However, there were always signs of recent occupation; candles recently extinguished, television still warm, the scent of cigarette smoke in the air. Face it, Buffy, she thought to herself, he is just plain avoiding you. Be thankful. This is a good thing, she reminded herself. Frequently.

Well, it was time to head for home, where at least a few things were going well. Willow was getting stronger and more like her old self every day. She and Tara were actually communicating: could reconciliation be far behind? And Dawn, after being badly scared by Buffy's "Heeere's Johnny" of a few days ago, had actually been going out of her way to be helpful and cooperative. On her part, Buffy had also made a major effort to be a better sister. She, Willow and Dawn had agreed to do a little more cooking and a little less ordering out, so that there were actual entire days without a single item from the Doublemeat menu appearing in the house.

So, if one could discount that slightly suffocating feeling of impending doom, life was pretty good. Buffy stuck her useless stake into her jacket pocket and headed for home.

Dawn was watching television, while Willow worked on a paper on her laptop in the dining room. When Buffy came in, Dawn looked up relieved, as always, that her sister had come home in one piece. "Hey, you're home early!" she said. 

"Yep. You'd think it was Halloween the way the vampires are not showing up. Uh...it's not Halloween is it?" 

"It's April, "said Dawn making a 'duh' face at her sister.

"Oh...okay...I thought so…just a little sanity check. Hey, Will, what's up?"

Willow came in from the dining room. "Not much. Just trying to get this stupid Poly-Sci paper done."

Buffy winked at Dawn, "Poly-Sci? What's that? Something about a mournful parrot?"

"Political Science, as you knew very well, "Willow said with a grin, "and what are you so chipper about this evening?"

"I don't know. Just enjoying an early evening at home with my roomies. What's on TV?" She asked Dawn, flopping down onto the sofa.

"Gilmore Girls. It's almost over." 

"Yuck."

"Well, if we had HBO…"

Buffy sighed, "Dawn you know we can barely afford basic cable."

"I know, I know. It's okay." She gave her sister a hug, "Who needs to watch Six Feet Under?"

Buffy shot back, "Certainly not us!" At that moment the phone rang. 

Buffy groaned, "What do you bet it's not good news?"

Willow spoke up as she headed for the phone; "Maybe it's Giles"

"This is too normal an hour for Giles. He always forgets the time difference."

"Hello, Summer's residence, "chirped Willow into the phone, "Oh! Hi Cordelia! Yes it has been a long time….Fine...we're all fine. Oh…well that's good to hear. What's that? Oh sure. No prob." Willow put her hand over the speaker, "Buffy…it's Cordelia and she wants to talk to you."

Buffy made a face at Willow and got up from the sofa. Willow whispered, "Oh, and by the way, she says don't worry, Angel hasn't gone evil again."

"Oh. Good."

"That's what I said." Willow handed the phone to Buffy. 

"Cordelia!" Buffy said with as much fake enthusiasm as she could manage.

"Buffy! "Cordelia was no slouch at fake enthusiasm herself, "What's new?"

"I'm afraid that there is no answer to that question that would take less than a week. Have you got unlimited long distance?"

"Oh, believe me, I know just what you mean! We should get together and catch up."

"Uh, sure. Sometime, I'm uh sure…we could do that."

"Well, actually, I was kind of thinking _tomorrow._ We have kind of a situation here."

"Oh...a situation," Said Buffy, "Well, it's Tuesday…what else did I expect?"

"Hey, I remember that about Sunnydale. Actually our crises always seem to happen on Mondays, for some reason."

"Hmmm…well what is your 'crisis' and why do you need a slayer?"

'Well," Cordy temporized, "It's kind of a funny situation"

"Funny, ha ha, or funny weird?"

"Funny, weird, I guess."

"Well?"

Cordelia swallowed, "Well, there is no way to tell you this without just spitting it out."

"That is sounding worse by the minute. Spit."

Cordelia took a breath, "Well….you remember Darla? She was dusted by Angel but brought back to life by Wolfram and Hart and revamped by Drusilla. Angel had sex with her, though he didn't lose his soul, and she got pregnant somehow...we have no idea how, and she had this baby who seems to be human and his name is Connor and he's Angel's son."

There was a long stunned silence. Finally Buffy managed to squeak, "Angel had sex?"

"Apparently."

"He has a son? A _human _son?"

"Yeah. There wasn't an easy way to tell you. Somehow a birth announcement seemed a bit…"

"So when did this happen? I'm sorry, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this. Darla, the vampire, had a baby? And she didn't eat it?"

"It happened a couple of months ago. And Darla died, dusted herself having the baby, from what I understand. I didn't see it."

"A couple of months ago, huh? And nobody though it was worth mentioning to me until now? And why isn't Angel making this call himself, it suddenly occurs to me to ask?" Buffy said coolly, though the shock was wearing off, and anger was beginning to bubble up from that bottomless pit within her.

"Angel. Well, he was going to call you, but like I said we've got this situation."

"What's that? He can't find a _baby sitter?"_

"Uh...Connor's been kidnapped. You can't believe all the different factions that have been after this baby. It's been like a war zone around here. But now this guy Holtz, who has a grudge against Angel from his Angelus days stole Connor and brought him into another dimension."

Buffy's anger evaporated, "Kidnapped! God, that's terrible Cordy! The poor little thing. Angel must be devastated."

"He is. And that's why we need your help."

"Look, Cordy, you know I will be glad to do what I can but if he's gone into another dimension, what can I possibly …..Wait, a minute. You can't be thinking what I think you're thinking, because if you are, just get it out of your brain right this minute."

"No, listen Buffy, just hear me out."

"No way can Dawn be involved in this. The last time somebody tried to use her as a key they almost killed her and did kill me. Remember?"

"I remember. Believe me. But this doesn't involve blood or anything bad. I swear. We have an incantation, We've all said it but the portal won't open for us. Maybe if Dawn said it, her keyness would give it enough power to…."

"Unlock the portal, I get it. Well, if all that's involved is saying an incantation…but Dawn has school tomorrow and I have to work all day, can't she just say it over the phone or something? What, Dawn? Excuse me, Cordelia, Dawn is jumping up and down here." Buffy covered the mouthpiece of the phone realizing that Dawn and Willow had been listening to Buffy's side of the conversation with great interest and now Dawn was practically exploding with excitement.

"Dawn, what is it?"

"Buffy, I want to go. Please. Let me go to Los Angelus and help Angel get his baby back. I'll do anything. I'll get all my homework done by Friday nights, I'll do all the dishes, anything."

"It might be dangerous."

"I don't care. Buffy, this is important. What's the point of being a glowy blob of energy is nobody needs one? Please?"

Buffy sighed, and got back on the phone, "Cordelia, does this incantation have to be done in person?"

"Well, the only known portal is about a half a mile away from the hotel. I think she really has to be there."

"Okay. Dawn really wants to do it, and I want to help too. I do have to work tomorrow until 5, and I really can't afford to take off. But we will leave right afterwards, and will be there tomorrow night. Dawn can miss school on Thursday, I guess. At this point, it won't make much difference. Is that soon enough?"

"Well, we can't go out to the place until after dark anyway, because of Angel, so I guess it will do."

"Is there a place for us to stay?"

"Well, duh, it is a hotel. But there's no room service. Or maid service. Listen Buffy, this is great. I'll tell Angel to expect you."

"Okay. See you tomorrow night." Buffy hung up the phone. She had a million questions and a few choice things to say to Angel, but that could all wait until tomorrow night in Los Angeles. 

Buffy turned to Willow. "Can you and Xander hold down the fort tomorrow night? There haven't been any vampires, so you probably won't even need to patrol."

"We'll be fine, Buffy. Maybe Tara will come over."

"Great. If you get any word on the Troika, don't do anything until I get back, okay? And if you or Xander hear from Anya...call me, okay?"

"Do we get to stay in Angel's hotel? That is so cool. I'm going to go pack!" Dawn practically skipped towards the stairs. Buffy realized that it had been a long time since they'd had a change of scenery. 

"It's only for one night! So no need to bring everything you own!" She called out. 

Buffy wandered into the kitchen, lost in thought. She wondered if this crisis was the big thing she had been worrying about, but then doubted it. It might be big in Angel's world, but it didn't really affect the folks here in Sunnydale. That crisis was yet to come. But still, Angel with a baby! It was almost too much to comprehend. Suddenly, Buffy walked back into the living room and grabbed her jacket.

"Buffy, where are you going? What happened to TV with the roomies? And now we have all this cool Angel gossip to discuss."

"Willow, I have to go out for a little while. I just thought of somebody I have to talk to. I'll be back in a few and we can have a gossip festival. I promise. " With that, Buffy disappeared out the front door. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Buffy approached Spike's crypt with some trepidation. She really didn't know what to expect from him these days, or from herself either. As she crept closer, she noticed a strip of muted light beneath the closed door, which might mean that he was actually there. She hesitated at the entrance, not wanting to barge right in as had been her usual habit, but feeling foolish about knocking, somehow. Before she could act either way, the crypt door swung open and Spike was there. He regarded her coolly and gestured for her to come in. He took a swig from the bottle of bourbon he was holding and put it down on table and switched off the television. Buffy found herself momentarily at a loss for words. Spike, never a one for silence, filled the conversational void:

"So, how's the sanity?"

"Good. I'm good," Buffy answered. 

Spike raised his eyebrows, "Glad to hear it. Did you tell them yet?"

Damn, thought Buffy, he's still on that hobbyhorse. "Spike…" she began.

He interrupted her, "No need to answer, pet. Every night when I step out of my crypt and don't see Harris out there, leading a mob of villagers with stakes and torches, I know you haven't told them."

"Well, is that what you want?" Buffy replied angrily.

"What…are you askin' if I am willing' to sacrifice Xander's _friendship_, his _respect _and his _gratitude _for all I've done for him over the past year? Well, it's a big loss but I can manage, I think. I figure you'd _probably_ keep him from stakin' me, but if not, well, it's been fun." Spike sighed in frustration, "It's for _your_ sake, Buffy, that I want you to tell them, not mine!"

"Spike, I do not understand you at all!"

"Oh...and after puttin' so much _effort _into it too." Spike's anger and bitterness filled the small room. 

"Look, Spike, I'm not here to talk about you and Xander. I need answers about something. Something important."

"Oh, and would you care to search my crypt while you're at it? What's left of it, that is."

"This isn't an interrogation, Spike. I don't care what you're up to. What do you know about vampires conceiving babies?"

Spike stared at Buffy in surprise. After a moment he replied, "All I know can be summed up in two words. We can't."

"Are you _sure?"_

Spike's look grew cold, "Listen pet, if you've been throwin' up mornings, maybe you'd better go talk to Soldier boy. Wherever he is these days."

__

"What?"

"Or maybe that wanker was at your party...what was his name again? Oh yeah…_Richard. _I'm sure he's the type would want to do the right thing." Spike picked up the bourbon bottle and took a drink, "Oh…But wait a minute. Maybe _you're_ the reason Harris backed out of his wedding. Now wouldn't _that_ add a nice soap opera twist to the whole Scooby gang dynamic?"

Buffy was furious, "Spike Stop it! First of all, I haven't done _anything_ with…with _any_ of those people! And secondly, this isn't about me!"

Spike's face immediately shifted to concern. "It's not Dawn is it?"

"No! God forbid. Just listen to me, Spike. I just got word from Cordelia. In LA. It seems that Angel and Darla had a baby. A human baby. And I just want to know how that's possible."

Spike looked totally stunned, but he answered contemptuously, "It's not."

"Well Cordelia wouldn't go to all the trouble of calling me up just to lie to me. She says it happened, and nobody knows how, or why."

"It's just not bloody possible. We're dead. And you can't get life from a dead thing. Maybe our dust can fertilize the ground a bit, but that's the extent of it."

"Well, then maybe it's a miracle."

"Bollocks! A miracle! For Peaches and Darla! Well, isn't that the bloody limit!"

"The Powers That Be, maybe they have some plan…"

"You mean Angel's bloody pet gods? The ones think he's so special? They've certainly never done a thing for me!"

"Me neither. Personally, I think they followed Angel to LA. I mean, I certainly could have used a little help this past year, and where were they?"

"Just stuck with us, I guess." For the first time since she had arrived, Spike and Buffy's eyes met. "At least Red's no slouch when it comes to miracles. She brought you back."

"Yeah, "Buffy sighed, "and we all know what a rousing success that's been."

Spike's eyes softened, "I'm not sorry she did it, are you?"

"No. Not really. Not any more."

"Good." Buffy looked away, "So Darla's a miracle mum, eh? And she hasn't tried to eat the tyke?"

"Darla's dead. According to Cordy, she dusted herself in order to have the baby. Something like that."

"Doesn't sound like the Darla I knew. She wasn't exactly the maternal type. So that leaves Angel to be Bachelor Father."

Buffy looked puzzled.

"Old TV series, before your time, love. Bet he is a really soppy father, too, all sentimental and gooey." Spike looked disgusted.

"Well, I don't know. What I do know is that Connor's been kidnapped."

"Connor. That the baby?" 

Buffy nodded.

"Well, this just gets more and more interestin' doesn't it? Bet that's why Cordelia called you, wasn't it?" 

"Yeah. Angel kind of forgot to tell me about the baby until now."

"Ha. No surprise there. Big wanker. Well, how can _you _help? Don't they have a whole team for that sort o thing?"

"Actually, it's Dawn they want. In her key capacity. The kidnapper took the baby through a dimensional portal."

Spike looked horrified, "Well bugger that! You told 'em to go to hell, right?"

Buffy shook her head. "It's not a blood thing, Spike. They just want her to recite an incantation."

"Oh right, and when that doesn't work, whadda ya bet it will be, 'well, we only need a _little_ blood!' And, If it comes down to choosin' between your sis, who he hardly knows, and his _son_, who do you think he'll pick?"

"I'll be _there,_ Spike. I won't let _anything_ happen to Dawn."

Spike frowned, "So how are you plannin' to get there?"

"Drive," Buffy answered, trying to sound nonchalant.

"You?!" Spike snorted.

"Hey! I drive. I have a license."

"Yeah. So I hear. You really think you can get yourself and Dawn to LA in one piece?"

Buffy considered this for a moment. "Okay, we'll take the bus."

"You're not takin' The Nibblet on any bloody bus. I'll drive you."

"You! I thought you hated Angel. And he hated you!"

"Well...we did have a minor squabble about that ring of Amara you stole from me and gave to him. But I'm sure he's forgiven me, what with him having a _soul_ and all."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that."

"Well, if he doesn't want my help, screw him. I just want to make sure that Dawn's okay. Plus, I want to take a gander at my new...what the hell is he?"

Buffy laughed, "What…do I look like Jerry Springer? Don't ask _me _to figure out vampire relationships!"

"Well, let's see. Darla sired Angel, Angel sired Dru, Dru sired yours truly, but then Dru also re-sired Darla, if I remember the story correctly. Which would make Connor my Uncle…and my nephew."

"You can write a country Western song about it on the way to LA, "Buffy turned serious, "On one condition."

"Wait…don't tell me. Let me see if I can guess this one. Don't mention a word about us to Angel or you'll be bringing me home in a Dustbuster. Am I close?"

"Spike. It's just not the time or the place, okay?"

"Never is, is it? When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow at sunset, I guess."

"I'll pick you up."

"Oh no. We are _not _going in that car of yours. I mean, has that thing ever even been registered, _or_ inspected _or_ insured?"

Spike shrugged. "Next you'll be expectin' me to have a drivers license."

Buffy groaned, "We'll take my mother's car. And I'll forget what you said about the Driver's License. Just don't speed."

"Who me? I'll drive like Giles."

"Good…I've got to go. Willow and Dawn are expecting me back. And Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." With that, Buffy was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I hate hospitals," muttered Cordelia, as she, Fred and Gunn walked down the quiet hallway. It was the very beginning of morning visiting hours and not too many people were about yet.

"Well, it's a whole lot more fun bein' a visitor than a patient," remarked Gunn, who was looking at the room numbers. The pale blue and tan corridors all looked alike, and he couldn't remember quite where Wesley's room was.

"I know that. But just being here brings back awful memories."

"Yeah. I hear ya."

"I hope that Wes can talk today, or at least write down some answers for us. Angel is on the verge of comin' here, himself, and we really don't want that to happen." said Fred. She patted Cordelia on the arm, "Thank heavens you came back, Cordy. You're the only one he'll listen to."

"Well, Buffy is coming tonight. That should help a lot."

"I can't believe we are finally goin' to meet her," said Fred eagerly.

"Yeah, The legendary Vampire Slayer. That's pretty cool." Agreed Gunn.

"Well, you're kinda legendary yourself, and without super powers," Fred said, with an adoring look. 

Gunn grinned at her, "Here's his room. I knew this was the right corridor."

There was a short bench against the wall across from Wesley's room, and sitting on the bench was a young woman with disheveled reddish hair. She was staring straight ahead with a look of anguish on her face. The three barely noticed her, assuming her to be here for one of the other patients, but as they started to enter Wesley's' room, she spoke.

"You can't go in yet. The Nurse is in there. She told me to wait outside."

Gunn, Cordelia and Fred immediately turned and looked at her. She would have been attractive if not for a black eye and a badly swollen jaw, and was obviously the picture of misery. She didn't look familiar.

Gunn froze. "Who are you?" he demanded suspiciously. The young woman stood up and faced him, looking him in the eye, with defiance. "I know you. Your name is Charles Gunn, and your friends are Fred and Cordelia. You work for the vampire."

She didn't look like a lawyer; "You work for Holtz, don't you?" 

The gang hadn't brought any guns or knives to the hospital because of Security, which was very strict these days, but instantly three sharp wooden stakes appeared from pockets and purses, and were leveled at the young woman. 

She stood her ground unflinchingly, however, and replied. "My name is Justine. And yes, I worked for Holtz."

Gunn shoved his stake up under Justine's chin almost breaking the skin and backing her up against the wall and said in his most threatening tone," What are you doin' here? You people have no right to be here!"

Again she didn't flinch, but answered calmly, "I think I do have a right to be here, actually. Since I am the one who cut him in the first place."

"And what? You here to finish the job? Fred, quick, check on Wes!" Fred quickly ducked into Wesley's' room, and came out immediately, blushing.

"He's fine, "she said hastily, "The nurse is in there. Getting' him ready for visitin' hours."

"Sponge bath?" asked Cordelia.

Fred nodded. "They're runnin' a bit late this mornin', she said."

Gunn continued aggressively "I guess we're lucky we got here when we did."

"I wasn't going to hurt him, " Justine said, "I just wanted to see how he was."

"And why do you care, after you tried to kill him?"

"I didn't try to kill him," Justine replied coolly, "If I had, he would be dead."

A couple of nurses, a doctor, and several visitors were coming down the hallway, so Gunn lowered the stake, and all four found themselves trying to act as though they were having a normal conversation. 

"I don't understand what happened," said Cordelia, almost kindly, "Why don't you tell us?"

"I tricked him. Wesley. Told him that Holtz had injured me, which was true enough, though not to the extent that I played it. He had the baby. When he got close enough to help me, I cut him and took the baby. I didn't want to kill him. And I didn't want to hurt little Connor. I swear."

"You took him to Holtz." This was Fred.

"That was the plan. " Unexpectedly, Justine's eyes began to well up with tears. " We were going to take him away, Holtz and I. To Utah. It's where I come from. It's beautiful there. Connor would have been safe. And loved. And away from that monster."

"Angel?" Cordelia asked. "That monster, as you call him, is Connor's father. You had no right."

"But everything changed," Justine continued as though Cordelia hadn't spoken, "Angel stopped us, and that demon Sahjhan appeared and opened up this huge hole in the sky…I've never seen anything like it. And Holtz just tossed me aside, and took Connor into that place. That wasn't the plan. Connor wasn't supposed to get hurt. He was supposed to be safe. It was Sahjhan. He's the one who wanted him dead. Holtz had to leap into that place to save him. And he left me behind."

The nurse came out of Wesley's room, and signaled the group that they could go in now. "Two at a time, "she reminded them, "and don't try to get him to talk."

"We can't let you in to see Wes," Cordelia said, "But I think you ought to wait here. We still need to talk to you. We'll let you know how he is."

Justine nodded.

"I'll stay with her, while you two ladies go in and see him. Then one of you can relieve me," offered Gunn. Cordelia nodded, and she and Fred went into Wesley's room. Justine sat back down on the bench, and Gunn joined her.

Cordelia shuddered as she walked into the drab hospital room with Fred. Just the smell alone was enough to bring her back to that horrible time in the Sunnydale hospital after being impaled on that iron re-bar. And her more recent stay in this very hospital. Wesley was lying there looking gaunt and miserable. He was hooked up to an IV stand and his throat was heavily bandaged. His bed was tilted at a slight angle so he could see his visitors. His face lit up when he saw Cordelia and Fred and he tried to speak, but Cordelia shushed him.

"No talking. The nurse warned us."

Wesley grabbed the pad and marker from the table next to his bed, and hastily scrawled a single word and held it up. "Connor???"

Fred shook her head sadly, "I'm sorry Wes. We still don't know anything. We tried to open the portal, but we couldn't. That demon Sahjhan appeared….to gloat, but he didn't give us any information."

Wesley looked confused and tried to shake his head, but it was too painful, so he stopped.

Cordelia said, "You don't know Sahjhan? Is that it?"

"He's the time travelling demon who brought back Holtz in the first place," explained Fred. 

Cordelia walked around the Wesley's bed to take the hand that was free of the IV needle, "Wes. Justine is here."

Wesley stiffened and turned even paler. Again he tried to speak.

Cordelia squeezed his hand, "It's okay, Wes. We're not letting her in. Gunn is outside with her now. She doesn't seem to be here to hurt you."

Fred spoke softly, "We know how she tricked you. She said that she wasn't trying to kill you. Wes, can you write now about what happened? We need to know how you knew Justine and why you met with Holtz. I hate to tell you this but Angel is pretty angry. He thinks you betrayed him. If you can tell us anything about what you were doing, why you took Connor in the first place, it might help."

"We don't want to judge you Wes, but Angel isn't being that rational on the subject."

Wesley closed his eyes, and the women saw a tear run down his face. Wes pulled his hand free from Cordelia's and wiped it away. He picked up his pad.

"Listen, I'm going out in the hall so Gunn can come in," said Cordelia, "I'll keep an eye on Justine."

Cordelia went out and a moment later Gunn came in.

"That is one scary lady." He said. "She ain't any too fond of Angel. But she seems all broken up about hurtin' you, English."

Wesley turned a page of the pad on which he had begun scribbling, and wrote, "Why is she alone? There are others."

"She says that the rest of the gang disbanded once Holtz disappeared."

Wesley wrote again, "Don't trust her."

"Tell me something we _don't_ know." He looked at the Wesley's pad, "so how's the autobiography comin'?

Wesley shrugged, and indicated that he was working on it. 

"Well, we gotta go. Buffy is comin' this evenin' and Cordy wants us to spruce the place up a bit."

Wesley drew a question mark on the pad.

"Oh, " Fred spoke up; "Her sister is some kind of a trans-dimensional key. She's gonna try to open the portal. Did you know that? About Buffy's sister?"

Wesley wrote, "Only after Buffy's death. Will you be back?"

"One of us will be back this afternoon to pick up your story. See ya later."

Fred smiled sadly at Wesley, and she and Gunn left the room.

One in the hallway, they crossed over to where Justine sat with Cordelia.

"I think you ought to come with us and talk to Angel." Gunn said to Justine. 

Justine stiffened. "I'll come with you, "she said, "but I want you to know up front, I have no regrets for anything Holtz and our group did to that…creature. Vampires murdered my sister, and I have no sympathy for Angel, soul or no soul. I have paid my dues in learning to kill vampires like him." Justine held up her hand to reveal a punctured scar, "But I do regret hurting Wesley. He is a good man, who was only trying to help me. And protect Connor. And I regret what happened to Connor. I would have loved him. He would have been safe and happy."

"Tell that to his father." Gunn said.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"My Princess, are you quite certain that this is a suitable task for a warrior?"

Cordelia smoothed the top sheet, as Groo tucked in the sides. "Absolutely, Groo. Here, all of our warriors are taught to make beds in basic training. There are inspections and everything. It's really quite grueling."

"If you say so, Cordelia. But tell me, why is it necessary to impress this _Buffy?'_

Cordelia sighed, "When Buffy and I were in high school together, well, we weren't exactly rivals but we were hardly best friends."

"My Princess, if you dislike this person, then I am prepared to dislike her also."

"No No, Groo. No disliking! How can I explain this to you? It's just that I was rich and popular, while she was, well, _odd._ She could have been almost as popular as I was, but instead she chose to hang out with this group of total dorks and losers. So, I should have felt superior, right? But somehow, while I was out getting my nails done and skiing at Aspen, she was slaying vampires and saving people." Cordelia sighed, "I came to Los Angeles to become a movie star. She stayed in Sunnydale and continued to save people. Last spring she dove off a tower to keep the world from ending. She died, Groo, and was brought back to life by that same bunch of dorks and losers. How can I begin to compete with that?" 

Groo looked perplexed. Most of Cordelia's speech was totally incomprehensible to the Pylean warrior, but he made a brave attempt at answering, "But you are a champion too, my lady." 

"But I fell into it more or less by chance. Believe, me, Groo, I am not in her league. She could take _you!_"

"Oh, I seriously doubt that, My Princess."

"Yeah, right. She can take Angel, and _has _in fact. Don't make the mistake of underestimating her. Well, anyway, are you clear on what has to be done up here?"

"Yes, my princess, and I am to repeat this also in room 222, is that correct?"

"Yes. And don't forget to dust. That earthquake coated everything with ceiling plaster. And please be careful not to wake Angel. He's finally getting some sleep. Now I have to go downstairs and see to our _not_ so welcome guest."

Cordelia left the Grooselug to his cleaning.

Downstairs, Justine sat uncomfortably in a chair, while Fred, Gunn and Lorne finished sweeping and dusting the lobby. 

"We really need to get in a cleaning service," complained Lorne, good naturedly, as he dusted the lamp next to Justine's chair, "I am so not made for menial labor."

"What exactly _are _you?" Justine suddenly asked Lorne. She had been unceremoniously shoved into the chair, when she had arrived with Cordelia, Fred and Gunn, and hadn't been introduced to this tall green creature with the red horns. He was creepy, though in a debonair kind of way, but obviously not a vampire.

Lorne looked at her appraisingly, "What I am, sweetie pie, is the owner of the nightclub, Caritas, which you and your friends blew to smithereens not so long ago."

"Oh." Justine studied her feet for a while and then looked up and spoke loudly, "Why are you treating me like this?" 

Everybody stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her. Lorne spoke in a tone dripping with sarcasm, "Oh, excuse me. Is your chair not comfy enough? Has your coffee gotten cold?"

"No. I mean, why are you all treating me so _nice?_ I helped blow up your club, I hurt your friend, and I kidnapped the vampire's baby. You could have tied me up here….or called the police. I believe it is still against the law in these parts to slit a person's throat. I wouldn't have fought you."

Cordelia dropped her broom and walked over to Justine, "First of all, you came here voluntarily, so we didn't see any point in tying you up. Secondly, we all learned a long time ago, that when it comes to the supernatural, the police are deeply stupid and worthless."

"When they aren't bein' homicidal zombies, that is," spoke up Gunn.

"That too. So, we prefer not to deal with them if we don't have to. Right now we have one main priority, getting Connor back. And if we can help our friend Wesley, who is in trouble, that would be good too. If you are here to help us do either of those things, then you are welcome. If not…"

"Let's put it this way," continued Gunn, "If you're here to 'get' Angel or to betray us in any way, well we have our own methods of justice that might have you _wishin' _for the police!"

"See, that's what I just don't understand!" Justine spoke angrily, "How you can give your friendship and loyalty to a…vampire! How you can work for such a creature, and protect him and try to get his child back, a child that he has no right to even _have!"_

Gunn was the first to answer her, "Look, Justine, I know where you're at, okay? _My_ sister was killed by vampires too. It took me a long time to get my mind around the fact that Angel and I were workin' the same side of the street. We still have our issues, him and me. But the fact is, he's workin' for good, and doin' it in spite of bein' a vampire."

"As for me," spoke up Lorne, "I've read his soul and I know that there is much good there. And he has a purpose and a destiny in this world. Plus, he's given me a home, such as it is, while my club is being renovated."

"He saved my life, and helped rescue me from a bad place." added Fred.

"You said it, honey," added Lorne.

Fred continued, "And he has given me a home, also, and a job that I'm good at."

Cordelia spoke; "Justine, all of that's well and good, but I'm the one you should be listening to, because I've known Angel longer than everyone else here, even Wesley. And I have seen him at his very worst…even worse than what you saw in Pylea, Fred. I've seen him without his soul. As Angelus, he murdered my computer teacher, tortured our school librarian and terrorized my friends and me. Oh…and he tried to end the world. That vampire you could stake with our blessing, if he didn't get you first. But the vampire that's here now, Angel, is _not_ the same person. He has a soul. He is capable of love and goodness. He has been trying to make reparations for what he has done in the past, even though he knows that, ultimately, he never can. Sure, he makes mistakes and screws up, just like the rest of us, but he loves us, and we love him. And he loves his son. And we love him too, as though he was our own. Through Angel we've all come to learn that you can't judge a person simply by the temperature of his skin, but by the way he acts."

Justine opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a voice from the stairs.

"Thank you, Cordy." It was Angel. "But you don't have to sell me to Justine. She has already taken everything from me that she can, unless she is into killing humans too."

Justine stood up and stared at Angel. "Your friends are very loyal."

"Not all of them," Angel snapped bitterly. He looked at the group, "Where did you find her?"

"She found _us_," Said Fred, "She came to the hospital to see Wesley this morning, and we asked her to come back with us and talk to you."

Angels' face clouded when he heard Wesley's name. "Isn't that touching."

"Wesley was not working with us. That's what I came to tell you."

"And why should I believe you?"

"I cut Wesley's' throat and stole Connor from him."

Angel laughed contemptuously, "Oh I have no doubt that you betrayed him. But that still doesn't mean he wasn't working for you. He met with you people twice."

"He was trying to negotiate a peace between you and Holtz, to get Holtz to leave you alone. But Holtz, and I, wouldn't listen. Instead we tricked him, pretending that Holtz had kicked me out. When Wes came to my rescue, I hurt him and stole Connor."

"Who he just happened to _have?_ Look, we _know_ he stole my son. There is no point in trying to lie for him."

"Yes. He did take Connor. But not for us."

This statement was received like a thunderbolt by all present.

"Then why?"

"To protect him. To save him."

"From whom? Holtz? Wolfram and Hart?" demanded Angel.

"From _you_." Spat Justine triumphantly. "He was protecting Connor from _you_. His so called father."

"What are you talkin' about?" demanded Gunn, "That is just plain bullshit!"

"Angel adores Connor! He would never hurt him!" agreed Fred.

"Wesley was delusional," said Lorne, "these last few days, he wasn't eating, wasn't sleeping, he looked like an unmade bed. Didn't anybody notice? He spent the last three days glued to that desk."

But Angel was looking at Justine thoughtfully, "Wolfram and Hart spiked my pig's blood with Connor's blood to tempt me to harm him, and I did have some bloodthirsty thoughts, but we discovered that, Wesley and I. It was over. How could he think I would harm my son?"

Justine stared at him, perplexed, "The prophecy. That you would kill your son. Didn't he tell you? Sahjhan told us about it. We took advantage of it to help convince him to steal Connor. To take him away from this hotel where he was protected, so that we could steal him ourselves."

"A prophecy! That's why his desk was so neat. He hid it, and all of his work!" Exclaimed Cordelia, running into Wesley's office. She began rummaging through the drawers, a woman with a purpose.

"I'm goin' over to the hospital, Angel, " said Gunn, "Wes was writin' his version of what happened, since he still can't talk. I'll bring it back and we'll see if it jibes with what the lady, here. says. You stay here," he said to Justine. 

"Gunn," Angel asked in a strangled voice, "How…how is Wesley doing?"

"He'll be okay. Take some time, but nothin' important was damaged, the Doc says."

"Good."

Gunn left the hotel. Justine sat back down while Angel went into the kitchen for some coffee. A few minutes later the Grooselug came downstairs smiling triumphantly. 

"The upstairs is ready, my Princess. Did I miss anything?" 

__

.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Okay, just make this next left, and the hotel should be on our right. Cordy said it doesn't have a sign. "

"Hel-lo. What's this then? Looks like a soddin' palace!"

"Well, it _is_ a hotel, Spike."

"A hotel you said! You didn't say he owned the bloody Ritz!"

"You were expecting the Sunnydale Arms? It does look rather impressive in the moonlight, doesn't it?"

"Well…good old Peaches has certainly come up in the world, hasn't he? A hotel all his own, a boomin' business _and_ a son. And what have I got? A blown up crypt, thank you very much. Bloody unfair, if you ask me," Spike shot a quick glance into the back seat of the SUV, "Of course, on the other hand, "his voice sank to a whisper, "he only got to shag you once." 

"Spike!" Buffy hissed, jerking her head towards the back seat.

"Nibblet's asleep. Has been for the last hour."

"I don't care! Turn here, there's the ramp to the parking garage."

"Oh underground parking. Of course! Nothin' but the best for soul boy." He pulled the car into the garage, which was empty except for a vintage convertible, a beat up pickup truck and a couple of more anonymous vehicles.

"Spike…are you going to behave yourself, or do I have to leave you here in the garage?"

"I will be the soul of discretion."

Buffy leaned into the backseat where Dawn was sprawled out as much as possible, given the confines of a shoulder harness. "Dawn! Wake up. We're here."

Dawn yawned and looked around the dimly lit garage, "Where are we?"

"At the hotel. This is just the parking garage." The three of them got out of the car and headed towards what looked like the door to the lobby.

As they passed the convertible, Dawn cried out, "Oh, cool car!"

"Probably belongs to the Poof. Typical, " muttered Spike to himself.

"Did you say something, Spike?" Buffy inquired in a deceptively sweet tone of voice.

"Nope. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" He pushed open the lobby door.

The lobby seemed crowded with people. For a moment, Buffy thought she had walked into a functioning hotel, rather than Angel's private home. Then she recognized Cordelia, though her hair was quite different from those Sunnydale days. Angel was sharpening a fierce looking blade over by a very nice weapons cabinet, which had the glass broken out. She didn't see Wesley, nor did she recognize the muscular Angel look-alike doing calisthenics in the corner, or the young bald black man, the dark haired girl with the glasses or the strong looking redhead, who were drinking coffee at a small table. Not to mention the green guy in the maroon smoking jacket. In fact when was the last time anybody had even _worn_ a smoking jacket outside of old Cary Grant movies? No less green guys with horns. As one, they all turned around when Buffy walked in followed by Dawn and Spike. 

"We're here," she announced cheerfully," better late than never, I guess." 

Angel put down his weapon and came over to embrace her, but stopped abruptly when he saw Spike. The temperature of the room suddenly dipped a few hundred degrees. Cordelia gasped, when she recognized him, but the others had no idea what was going on between Angel and the youngish blonde man in the long black leather coat. 

"Spike. What a nice surprise! Get out." Angel said with ice in his tone.

"Peaches! Is that any way to greet your progeny?" Spike said mockingly.

"Look, I can't stop you from hanging around Sunnydale, though God knows why Buffy didn't stake you long ago. But I don't have to have you here. Get out!"

Buffy spoke up, "Angel…Spike gave Dawn and me a ride here. You know that I'm not much of a driver. He just wants to help."

Angel turned to Buffy, "Oh really. Did he bring his _torturer_ with him?"

Buffy looked confused, but Spike answered, "C'mon Angel. You don't still hold a grudge about that Marcus thing, do you? You've done as bad to me, if not worse, back in the day."

"Look, I don't have time for this, just get the hell out of my hotel!"

"Wait one bleedin' minute, oh special one. If it comes to holdin' grudges, I could mention the fact that it was _my_ ring of Amara, in the first place. But _worse,_ after you stole it from me, what did you bloody _do _with it? _Destroyed_ it, you bloomin' idiot! Then there's that little matter of you settin' fire to Drusilla! I could hold a grudge about _that_," he shot a look at Buffy, "if she were still my girl, which she's not," he added hastily.

Buffy looked at Angel; "You set fire to Drusilla?"

Spike smirked, "Her and Darla both. Right after feedin' 'em a yummy lawyer buffet! He ever tell you about that one? But then again, if my math is correct, that was right about the time he must have been shaggin' Darla, so I guess he didn't."

At that point Angel let out a growl and leapt for Spike's throat. In a flash, Buffy was between the two furious vampires, holding them apart by the sheer force of her will.

"Spike! Angel! Stop it!" she shouted, "Angel…Spike came here to help get your _son _back, remember _him_?" she then turned to Spike, "And You! You promised cooperation! And instead I get the clash of the Titanics!"

"Titans!" yelled both vampires, correcting her in unison.

"Well, thank you very much, _Giles-es_."

The tension immediately dissipated. Angel and Spike looked at each other, abashed.

Buffy pressed her advantage; "I don't know anything about this torture thing, Angel, or this lawyer buffet thing, Spike, though I would have to say that anything Angel did to Darla and Dru was probably deserved. But we didn't come here to rehash old times, did we? I thought we were here for a reason. Now Angel, Spike has come here to help you. If you can't accept that, well, then I really have to wonder which one of you has the _soul_."

"Hmmmph! Well, if you are really here to help out, then I guess you can stay, "said Angel with grudging graciousness.

Spike smiled, "By the way, congratulations on the kid. Kind of unexpected news."

"Tell me about it. Welcome Buffy and Dawn, " He gave them both a quick hug, "Come on, I'll introduce you to the gang."

Suddenly Buffy spun around, "Hey you with the stake! Yeah you…behind Spike! What's up with _that_?"

The redhead looked at the stake in her hand, then looked Buffy in the eye, "He's a vampire. I kill vampires."

"Not this one, you don't," Buffy snapped. She looked at Angel and Cordelia, "What's going on here? Is vampire slaying some kind of new hobby that _everybody _is taking up these days?"

"That's Justine," said Cordelia, "She's not really with us. It's a long story. Welcome Buffy," she gave Buffy a hug, "and _Dawn_. Dawn, do you remember me?"

"Well, duh, I'm not _six_, Cordelia." Cordelia laughed politely. Teenagers. Thank heavens _she_ had never been like that.

"Hello Spike." Cordelia said coolly. "If Angel doesn't object to having you here, I guess I don't either. Groo?" The tall muscular man, who didn't appear quite human, appeared at Cordelia's side. "Maybe you could keep an eye on our _guest_."

"Certainly, My Princess," he replied before Cordelia could stop him.

"Princess," sneered Spike, "Now why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Watch it Spike, you're on thin ice, here."

"I'll behave, I promise…Princess."

Cordelia groaned. Spike was incorrigible. Hastily, she introduced everybody, and addressed the newcomers, "Listen guys, I know we have a ton to catch up on, and I really can't explain everything that's been going on the last three days, not to mention the last three years! Right now, I really want to get over to the Sixth Street Bridge and see if this thing works. Are you up for it Dawn?"

Dawn smiled bravely, "Sure. I want to do what I can."

"As long as no bleeding is involved." insisted Spike.

"No bleeding, Dawn. I promise," said Angel.

"Hey! What about Justine?" That was from Gunn. "We can't just let her go, even if her story does check out with that term paper that Wesley wrote."

Angel considered, "What do _you _think, Justine? We haven't forgotten what you did to Wesley. Lucky for you, he's going to be okay. If you want to turn yourself into the police, we won't stop you. But I think you'd better stay here for a while. Lorne, would you mind staying here with Justine?" 

"Not at all, Angelcakes. I wasn't planning on going anyway. I've had enough of portals and alternate dimensions to last me the rest of my days. But, take care of yourself, you big lug, okay?" He gave Angel a big hug. Buffy, watching this, rolled her eyes. 

Justine thought a moment, then said, "Look, uh, Angel. I'm not stupid. I know that you have, or think you have, some way of going after Connor, and that's why you're going back to Sixth Street. Well, I'd like to come along, if you'll have me. You…you're not the only one who lost somebody you...care about in that portal."

Gunn came up right behind Justine, "Justine, so help me, if you are planning any treachery, or if you are signaling somehow to the rest of your gang to attack us…"

"I'm not. I swear."

"Good," said Angel, "because you may be able to kill those run of the mill vampires you catch and torture, but not me, when I'm pissed off. Or my friend Spike, here. Am I right, Buffy?"

"Oh absolutely, Angel. You two are the Big Bads all right."

"Damn right, "Spike agreed, "And you don't want to mess with Buffy either."

"Okay everybody, let's get a move on…uh, ooooh." Cordelia suddenly froze and stood stock-still staring at something nobody else could see.

"What..." began Buffy.

"It's a vision," explained Angel, "Cordelia's having a vision." He watched anxiously as Cordelia slowly came back to the present.

"Ooh...Oh My God!"

"Headache?" asked Angel

"No," said Cordy, "I just haven't had a vision in over two weeks. It took me by surprise. There was an old man and a boy. Kind of raggedly dressed. I couldn't see where they were, but it was dark, and swampy. Strange lights in the sky. Weird noises. There…there was a kind of a fire demon. The boy and old man tried to fight it. The flames…oh God, it was awful!"

"But where, Cordy, and when?"

"I couldn't tell. It was no place I could recognize. But I did get one overwhelming feeling."

"What's that?" Fred had come up and put her arm around Cordelia.

"We have to get over to the Bridge...NOW!"

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The group that met at the Sixth Street Bridge was quite different from the group of twenty-four hours earlier. For one thing, it was bigger. So big, in fact, that it had required crowding into two vehicles; Angel's convertible and Buffy's SUV. There was also an undertone of suspicion and distrust, caused by the inclusion of Justine and Spike, and anxiety caused by Cordelia's vision, which weren't present at the previous attempt.

As everybody piled out of the cars, Spike and Buffy kept a firm grip on Dawn, while Groo brought up the rear. Gunn and Fred escorted Justine, making sure she had no chance to contact anybody. And so far, there was no sign of any of Holtz' old crew or any of Wolfram and Hart's commandos, so all was well.

Once again, Angel, Gunn and Groo said their good-byes to their friends and lovers, and prepared for an excursion into the unknown. At the last minute, Angel turned to Spike and called out, "Spike. Would you like to come? We can always use more muscle."

Spike stepped forward eagerly, but then stopped. With real regret in his voice he said, "I'd really love to, mate. New climes, a chance to fight. Sounds fun. But I can't. You have your priority, gettin' your son back, and I wish you luck with that. I really do. But I have my priorities too, and they're right here," he indicated Dawn and Buffy, "And since this may be a one way trip, I have to say no. Sorry."

Angel stared at the other vampire for a moment, thoughtfully, but there was no time for discussion, so he just nodded, and signaled to Dawn to begin.

Dawn held up the paper that Cordelia had given her and read the words aloud in a clear voice, "Lekko Najine Forkahdio!"

They waited. There was no green glow from Dawn and no rending of the sky. She tried again, even louder, but again the sky remained indifferent.

"Do you feel anything, Dawn?" Buffy asked, "any tingling, or feeling of power? Anything?"

Dawn looked like she was about to cry, but answered, "Nothing." She looked at Angel, "I'm sorry, Angel. I guess I don't have any power left. Or I'm not the key any more." She burst into tears, "I'm so sorry."

Buffy put her arms around her sister, "Dawn. It's not your fault. You tried. Angel, are you sure these words are right?"

"As sure as we are about any of this. They are the words that Sahjhan used when he opened the portal. And this is the place. But don't worry Dawn. Buffy's right, it's not your fault."

"Maybe," Dawn's voice was practically a whisper; "Maybe I could give just a little blood."

"No!" thundered Buffy and Spike. Buffy continued, "I honestly don't think it will help. You don't feel anything here."

"Buffy's right. It was just a futile hope at best."

"Well, isn't this interesting," Sahjhan was suddenly among them, standing on the little rise where he had last opened the portal. He looked at the crowd, and especially at Dawn. "Angel. I have to give you credit for ingenuity. Bringing a key here. Very clever."

Dawn looked at the scarred demon, her voice shaking, "D-do you see me as a k-key?"

"Of course. Green and glowing. Do you have another form?"

"Then why couldn't I open the portal?"

"Because it's not here, of course. Did you all think I would just leave it lying about? Only I can summon it." He muttered to himself, "Not that it does _me_ any good," once again his voice rose, "and I will _not_. Therefore, once again your efforts are in vain, Angel. I've won. You may go back to your mourning, now!" Sahjhan laughed, and prepared to make his exit.

"Wait a minute." The voice came from Spike, "So that's it? You get us all here and then you just _leave?_ Without even givin' us _The Speech_?"

Sahjhan stopped waving his arms around and looked at Spike, "What speech?"

Spike laughed contemptuously, "What speech? Bloody hell. Haven't you seen any movies? You've got us all where you want us, right? _You've_ won, _We've_ lost. So this is your cue to give us the _big speech_, all about how clever you've been and why you did what you did. All the villains do it. I've done it myself. C'mon, you _know_ you want to."

Sahjhan moved closer to the blonde vampire studying him carefully, "I know you, " he said.

"What?" Spike spoke hastily, "No you don't. Not me. Listen, forget what I said about the speech. Off with you, now." He tried to shoo the demon away. But Sahjhan stood his ground.

"You were shorter. No, not shorter. In a wheelchair. And there was a woman too, a vampire, with dark hair and prominent eyes."

"I have no idea who you're talkin' about."

"Drusilla," said Angel in wonder.

Spike rolled his eyes, "Thanks ever so, Angel, I must of forgotten her name!"

"The three of you, together. You summoned Acathla."

"Acathla?" said Spike, "Well, funny about that. Actually, I had nothin' to do with that whole Acathla thing. Didn't support the whole idea at all, innit that right Buffy?"

Sahjhan followed Spike's line of sight to Buffy, "And you. You were there too."

"Oh shit!" said Spike, realizing his mistake. He looked guiltily at Buffy. She rolled her eyes at him, turned and stared defiantly at Sahjhan.

"What has Acathla got to do with any of this?" challenged Angel. "I thought your quarrel was with me."

"Acathla is the gatekeeper, for want of a better word, of the Quortoth."

"Hell," said Angel simply, "I know. I was there."

"Well, you may call it Hell," said Sahjhan, "but to me it was _home_. The portal that I summoned the other night that was a small thing, capable of swallowing up a few people, a minor township at most, but Acathla…_Acathla_ was capable of swallowing the whole world! And you _promised _us the world, Angelus."

Spike snorted, "I _told _you and Dru that summoning Acathla was a big mistake, but did you listen to me?"

"Shut up, Spike," snapped Buffy and Angel together.

Sahjhan turned to Buffy, "_You_ closed the portal with Angel's blood and instead of the world, all we got was one pathetic vampire. With a soul yet. The Rulers of my world were not pleased." He turned to Angel; "They imprisoned you, and sentenced you to eternal torment."

"I really don't remember much about that time," said Angel.

"Apparently not, since you claim to not remember me. I was your jailer."

"Okay, now I'm confused. Shouldn't _I _have a grudge against _you_?"

"Let me finish, since your friend here wanted to hear my Big Speech. Do you have any idea what a _bore_ it is to torment somebody eternally? After a few decades, you just run out of ideas. Moreover, you were so pathetic. I started to feel sorry for you, and kind of tapered off the torture after a while. Eventually, we mostly talked. Played the occasional game of _Iklat_, which is something like chess. We became friends. At least I thought so."

"I honestly don't remember any of this."

"I do. But it seems that you were just biding your time. You had scrounged a piece of metal, I don't know from where and honed it into a weapon. One day over a game of _Iklat,_ you made your move. I fought you, but you gave me _this_," Shajhjan indicated his scar, "and made your escape. Not knowing our world, you stupidly fled into the fire swamp, the worst place on our not so pleasant world. We all assumed you were dead, since nobody had ever made it out of those swamps alive…or sane. But it didn't matter. I had failed in guarding you. In showing you compassion, I had allowed you to escape. The rulers of my world punished me. They killed my family and exiled me. They robbed me of my corporeal form so that I could no longer be a part of my world, or any other. I was forced to wander through time and space for centuries."

"Three years," this was from Buffy.

"Excuse me?"

"I hate to poop your self-pity party here, but it's only been three years or so. Since all this happened. Hardly centuries."

"Oh. Well, it _seems_ like centuries when you go back and forth in time like I do. It's very confusing. At any rate, the first thing I discovered was that Angel wasn't dead, but had been brought back to Earth, by some means or other."

Buffy and Angel looked at each other, "The First Evil? The Powers that Be?" suggested Angel.

Buffy shrugged, "One of them. We're not too sure."

"Well, I watched you, and plotted my revenge. I wanted to destroy you. But like you, I bided my time. I waited for you to be _happy_. Long wait as it turns out. Talk about seeming like _centuries_…but _finally_ you had Connor. And you were happy. So I plotted and planned, which thanks to you is all I _can _do. I brought back Holtz to kill you before you even got to _see _your son, but he failed me. So I went back a few centuries and had an associate create a prophecy that you would kill your son, and had it fall into your friend Wesley's hands. I even contrived for a wizard friend of his to verify it. Oh _that_ was quite a scene. Sorry you missed it. The final confirmation of the prophecy with the earthquake and all, that was just a matter of knowing the future. You know the rest."

"So, you were the one behind Wesley's actions. A regular puppet master. But how do you get people to work for you? What can you possible offer them?"

"Winning horses, Stock market tips, lottery numbers, depending on the century. Moving through time has its rewards, you know."

"Look, Sahjhan. I appreciate you telling me all this. I really wish I remembered what happened to me in your dimension, but my experience in the swamps must have wiped my mind of it. I know that I was in pretty bad shape when Buffy found me, and I had no desire to remember. I'm more sorry than I can say to have repaid your kindness that way, but I must have been desperate to escape. And I had no idea what would happen to your family or you. Can't you see my side of it?"

"Believe it or not, I actually can. But the fact remains, that I am still like this," Sahjhan passed his hand through Angel's face. "If I could regain my form, I could return to the Quortoth and plead my case again before my Rulers. New ones have come into power; perhaps I would have a chance at forgiveness. But I cannot, and therefore _you _must continue to suffer. And so I must bid you adieu."

"Wait a minute," the small voice belonged to Dawn. "You're the only one here who can see me as a key._" _Dawn walked over to the demon; "I feel power when I am near you. I wonder if I can touch you. " 

She reached out her hand towards the scarred demon and placed it on his shoulder. A green glow suddenly enveloped her and Sahjhan. Buffy and Spike moved forward to pull her away, but she waved them back. A shudder passed through the demon, and the glow dissipated. Dawn took his hand, now as solid as her own.

Sahjhan stared at her in wonder, "You did it. You restored me to my original form. Oh and look at you, you're a young girl. Thank you, my dear."

Angel stepped up. "You can go home now, and plead your case. Can't you help _us_?"

"You sure you don't remember me? That really hurts."

"I'm sorry, Sahjhan. I'm sure that I enjoyed those Iklatgames. Maybe you could come back and play chess with me now and then. I play with Fred, but she beats me too often."

"Speakin' of chess, " Fred came forward, "if you can see the future, did you see this? Dawn comin' here and all? Was this all part of your plan?"

"Well, I haven't seen all of the future. Only selected bits. You have to know where to look, but yes, I confess, I did see this." He winked at Dawn. "Lekko Najine Forkahdio!"

The skies opened up and the flaming portal filled the moonlit sky. Sahjhan gave then all an ironic salute and leaped into the opening. As suddenly as it had opened, the portal closed with a kind of swooping sound, and the sky was empty once again.

Angel and the others stood there in shock. "That bastard! He left us! Dawn, quick, before he moves the portal again!"

Unfortunately, Dawn had dropped the piece of paper with the incantation on it. As she fumbled on the ground, looking for it, the skies opened up again. Everybody looked in amazement as two people fell onto the street in a ball of fire. The skies closed again and Angel and the others ran to help them. Spike whipped off his duster and used it to help smother the flames. There was an old man, badly burned, and a boy about sixteen years old. He didn't look too badly hurt, though most of his ragged clothing had been burned away. He had apparently tried to smother the old man's flames with his body. Cordelia felt the man's pulse, but it was too late for him. He was dead.

"These are the people from my vision. They appear to be human," said Cordelia, examining the old man's body. The boy stood up shivering from shock. 

"Can you speak English?" asked Buffy of the shivering boy as Gunn gave him a jacket to put on. 

"English. Yes. My father… spoke to me in English. We were running…away. We were forced into the fire swamp. The demons there burn. My Father tried to...protect me. But the demon…"The boy began to sob.

"I'm sorry, but your father is dead," said Cordelia gently, "But you can come home with us, and we will take care of you. Have you any other family? A mother?"

"No. It was only my father. We were…different from the others. Sometimes they…tolerated us, but other times they…tried to kill us." He looked around, "What...uh, where am I? This place is different."

"We will explain all of that later, after we get you back to the hotel, and get you cleaned up and fed. What is your name?" Cordelia asked him kindly.

"Connor. Connor Holtz."

A loud cry startled them as the realization sunk in. Justine, who had been watching with the others, suddenly ran up to the body of the old man, and crouched over his body, sobbing. "Holtz. Oh Holtz, why did you leave me?" 

Angel joined her and they examined the old man together. Holtz hadn't been a young man when he had taken Connor into Quortoth, and the years he had spent there in the last forty-eight hours had not been easy ones. Not much was left of their foe and friend. Angel patted Justine on the shoulder and stood up, leaving her with the remains of the man who had been her watcher, for lack of a better word, and went to see Connor, his son. 

Angel was amazed looking at Connor. He would be a fine boy when cleaned up. All those years in a hostile environment had made him strong and muscular. His scraggly hair hung in his face, but he appeared to be a good looking kid under all that filth, not surprising with Darla for a mother. It was all a bit overwhelming. How could he possible explain this? Best not to try, at least for the time being.

Buffy gave Dawn a big hug, "Dawn you did it! Do you understand? You brought Angel's son back to him!"

"That's Connor? I thought Connor was a baby."

"He was. But time passed differently in that other place. Remember when Angel went to Hell, that demon said he was there for decades, but for us it was just a few months."

"I don't understand."

"Me neither, really. But you did it."

"Good job, Bit," said Spike. "See, being a non-human glowy type thing isn't all bad."

There seemed to be no good reason to continue to hang around the Sixth Street Bridge any longer. Gunn used his cel phone to call for an ambulance for Holtz and Justine elected to wait with the body. She and Angel seemed to have come to an understanding in those few minutes over Holtz' burned corpse. Angel didn't think she would be trying to harm him or Connor again.

Connor was terribly confused and disoriented, but Cordelia and Angel did everything they could to ease him into the convertible and get him back to the hotel without shocking him too much.

Once there, Cordelia ushered Connor into the lobby, where Lorne was waiting anxiously. He was astounded by the developments, as were they all. It would take some time to sink in. Angel finally found a chance to thank Dawn. He gave her a big hug, and Cordelia promised her a celebratory feast. "We'll order anything you like."

But Dawn was mostly fascinated by Connor. She stared at him, watching him eat some soup that Cordelia had rustled up for him. She caught Angel looking at the bassinet in the corner. She was kind of sorry that she had never gotten to meet the baby Connor. But this one was pretty cool, too. She wished she could be around to help him learn about his new family. But no, tomorrow she had to go back to Sunnyhell, as Spike sometimes called it.

"Oh my goodness, "cried Lorne suddenly, "Buffy, you had a phone call while you were gone. I completely forgot in all the excitement."

"Who was it?" asked Buffy with a sinking feeling.

"Somebody named Zander. He said it was important."

"Thank you. Where is a phone I can use?" She disappeared into Wesley's office. 

Spike walked over to Dawn, "What do you bet we have to head back?"

Sure enough, a few minutes later Buffy came out, her face grim. "Sorry, everybody, but we have to get back tonight." She looked at Spike; "According to Xander, Warren and his pals have resurfaced. We can't wait until tomorrow night to go back. Sorry Dawn."

"Great, " said Dawn sarcastically "Now we can even be home in time for school tomorrow."

Buffy smiled, "Well, we already sent in the note, so you might as well stay home."

Dawn lit up, "Cool." 

The good-byes were brief. Cordelia and Buffy promised to keep in touch, and Cordelia invited Dawn to come and stay at the hotel some weekend, soon. "Connor is going to have to get to know some people his own age, when he feels a little better."

Angle hugged Buffy, "I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to catch up. You look much better then you did the last time I saw you. And I really like your haircut. That Dawn is a great kid."

Buffy smiled, "Isn't she? Well, we will really keep in touch, this time."

"Uh, so what's the deal with Spike? I'm not sure I trust him, even with that government chip of his."

"It's complicated. But nothing you have to worry about. Really. He's okay. Very protective, as you can see."

"Well, if you say so."

Angel regarded Spike thoughtfully, "Thank you for bringing Dawn and Buffy here, and for getting Sahjhan to talk. I never could. Uh…take care of Buffy for me."

"Well, she won't let me do much, but I do what I can."

"Yeah, I know."

Cordelia came over, "Goodbye Spike"

"Take care, Princess."

The gang from Sunnydale was gone.

"We can use one of those made up rooms for Connor." Cordelia said to Angel after Buffy had gone, and the others were sitting around talking over the events of the evening. "Maybe you'd better take him upstairs and get him cleaned up and put him to bed. He's probably too old for me to do it. Look at him, he's practically falling asleep in his soup."

"I'll take him. But Cordy?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you so much for everything you've done…getting Buffy here, everything. I couldn't ask for a better friend."

"Angel," she leaned over and kissed him, "It was no problem at all."

As Angel helped the exhausted boy up the stairs, he suddenly turned to Cordelia who was clearing off the table, "Cordy?"

She looked up.

"Do you think visiting hours at the hospital are over?"

"It's after midnight, Angel, so yeah, but we'll all go first thing tomorrow. Maybe we can get you in through the tunnels. We'll work out something."

"Thanks."

Angel and his son went up the stairs.

The End


End file.
